November 20, 2009

Team Development - Why Your Office Is Different from the Office

Every employer should want to boost morale, increase communication between staff members and in the end increase proficiency, so why don’t all organisations send their staff to team development events?

Is it because some of these events can suffer from the fact they conjure up bad thoughts - many connected to the farcical events portrayed on television shows?

Certainly, the wisdom of David Brent from TV’s “The Office” have forced middle managers to look in the mirror and wonder if that’s who they resemble.

Among Brent’s many, now well-known, quotes the one that best summarises his thinking about working as a team reads: “There may be no ‘I’ in team, but there’s a ‘ME’ if you look hard enough”.

Fans of the show will remember the funny show in which a team development expert visited their offices. David Brent quickly took over, and changed the course into essentially a celebration of himself, including a rendition of his seminal 1980s pop ballad “Free Love on the Freelove Freeway” on acoustic guitar.

Yet, in real life team development events are nothing like the cringeworthy and destructive nightmare depicted in the show.

Numerous companies across the country now offer businesses the opportunity to take their staff out of the office and away on a team building day.

Team building helps employees to learn and develop the tools and skills essential to push business growth plus sustain development and improvement.

And in spite of the worldwide recession, staff development remains essential to business growth. In fact, it is even more important, as when the recession ends there will certainly be chances for the best-managed businesses to take advantage of the developing marketplace.

Team development can take different forms, from in-house teaching to getting out into the wilderness and undertaking adventure courses, high ropes trails and personal challenges - which will certainly inspire and be memorable for employees taking part.

All of these events are designed to encourage staff - regardless of age and background - to work as part of a team for the common good of your company, and they all contribute to the common long-term goals of your business.

That’s why team development events are essential to the growth of any business. Just don’t copy David Brent, a man whose policy for hiring new staff was simple: “Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them”.

Have Someone Who’s a Problem to Choose a Present for? Get a Personalized Hamper or Gift Basket

Filed under: Misc. — admin @ 12:47 pm

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